


The Rider

by Blueishfood



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, F/M, How to Train Your Dragon References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2020-12-16 02:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21028994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueishfood/pseuds/Blueishfood
Summary: She was a trapper. Born a trapper, grown a trapper, stayed a trapper. Her parents and all those before her were trappers. All her life Astrid’s been told that dragons were beasts and monsters. So what happens when she meets the Rider, the devil in human form, who believes dragons could be friends?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Hiccup x Astrid
> 
> Warning(s): Mentions of rape
> 
> A/N: This is an alternate universe fic where Astrid Hofferson is a trapper and Hiccup Haddock lives alone with his dragons. I wrote this years ago, but I just kind of never published it anywhere? So here it is, sorry for bad writing and stuff but again, old fic. If you’re sensitive to mentioning of rape, do not read this! It does NOT happen in the fic, and it will not be described, but it is mentioned as one of the characters are affected by this.

She was a trapper. Born a trapper, grown a trapper. Her parents and all those before her were trappers. All her life Astrid’s been told that dragons were beasts and monsters. So that’s what she believed. She always had her axe, she was always on guard. She’d killed more dragons than she could count, and she had never regretted it. Because dragons are monsters, so what’ there to regret? Astrid was trained to protect her loved ones and kill her enemies. And the dragons were the enemy.

Then there was The Rider. That was what they liked to call him. He was the devil in human form. He often came in the dead of night. Sometimes even in the day, but that wasn’t often. He always wore that mask. It was black as the dragon he was riding, tiny horns stuck up on the top, resembling the tale of his dragon, and the only opening was for his eyes. The green demonic eyes of Loki.

He didn’t look like much. He had a slender, lanky body. He didn’t look like a fighter. But he was. She had seen him pin her father to the ground. One of the greatest warriors in their tribe. As easy as nothing. His pride had been very hurt that day, grumbling something he had grabbed food and stayed in his room for two days. Astrid snorted at the thought and she downed the last of her yak milk. Her father hadn’t been prepared. Unlike him Astrid wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating the Rider.

Astrid jumped when she heard the first call of war in the morning. Barely done with breakfast, she ran outside to see the now usual figure of a nightfury in the dawn sky. She grabbed her axe and threw two knifes in her pockets before she leaped into action. Jumping over dragons, leaving them a scar or two, before running towards him. This time. This time for sure. She was going to take on The Rider.

With a screech the deadly black dragon landed on the ground. The Rider jumped off, and with a swift movement he had a flaming sword in his left hand, he held the other calming to his sneering dragons head. As Astrid neared the man, his nightfury turned to look at her. Its eyes burned with a hatred greater then she had ever seen. Her breathing came out in rapid breaths. She made no move, and neither did he. But when his dragon suddenly turned to take on her cousin, she decided that it was now or never. And charged.

He blocked without a sound. Sliding under her and ducking up at the other side. She had seen him fight before, and he her. She knew some of his tricks and moves, he knew that she was running on sheer power and strategy.

They fought like a dance, gliding against each other. Weapons and shouts sounded all around them, but Astrid didn’t realize that. Her sweat made her clothes cling to her body. She swung her axe towards him, it hit his sword and for a moment they were locked to a stop. She looked deep into his eyes, trying to figure out what he fought for. She found nothing. The moment was over in a second, he slid his sword out of the lock and kicked her in the stomach. She stumbled backwards. He was surprisingly good at what he did. He turned his sword and pushed a button. She recognized the gas coming out as zippleback gas and ducked just as it exploded. She felt a strong hand pull her axe out of her grip. Then she was pushed against a firm chest, the flaming sword at her throat. 

She tried to get away from the heat, pressing her head to his chest. “Ch-cheater.”, she choked out, trying to get out of his grip. She could hear the frown in his voice as he pushed the sword a bit further towards her throat. “Trapper.” He growled.

She barely registered the fire leaving her throat. She was so stunned that when he took off on his dragon, she did nothing. She only stared as he shot the dragons out of their cages and disappeared with his new recruits behind the clouds. 

“Argh!” She became aware of Night racing towards her. “Astrid! You had him! You let him go!" The man gripped her wrist ferociously. She ripped it out of his hand. "He had a sword to my throat!” Night huffed. “You could have killed him.” Astrid’s unbelieving eyes turned angry. “I could have been killed! Don’t you care!?” He rolled his eyes. “I care about catching that dragon-loving-pest!”

His eyes were fire and hers were ice. Without a word she turned and headed for the woods. “What the Hel Astrid!?” The young woman turned back slowly.

“We’re through. I already told you that and you need to get it into your head. You have no right to talk to me.” She frowned at him and spit by his boots. “I’d rather marry The Rider than you.” Night tried to grab her forearm, but she forced it away. “Get off me!” She tried walking away, but he grabbed her again.

“Astrid! Wait!” She turned with a deadly glare.

“I said…” Her voice was no longer loud. It was silent and silent was dangerous with Astrid. “Get your filthy fingers off me.” Night didn’t have time to answer before he felt a strong pain spreading through his jaw. He fell and as he tried to get back up, black spots filled his eyesight. Astrid cracked her knuckles.

“You should learn to listen.” Walking away without killing the man was one of the hardest choices Astrid made that day. She noticed Snotlout punching the man again but said nothing against it. 

As a hand was placed on her shoulder, she looked up. Ruffnut smirked down at her. “He was a jerk anyway.” Tuffnut popped up beside his sister. “Yeah and think of it this way; now you can spend more time with chicken!” He lifted the cackling creature in the air, smiling like a crazy man. "We were all hoping for that to happen, babe.“ Snotlout smirked at her as she punched him good-heartedly. "Hey Astrid, you okay?” Fishlegs looked concerned at the girl. Astrid smiled. "Sure, I’m fine. I’ll just go practice the axe.“ She turned, walking towards the woods, but looked back when Ruffnut followed her. "Alone.” She muttered and ran before anyone could catch up.

Astrid threw her axe towards the pine tree. “ARGH!” She shouted as she pushed herself to the limit. Breaking up with Night was not really the problem. Sure, they had been together for a few months and they looked like a power couple from the outside, but he ruined all her fierce personality. He ruined her. He made her look weak, constantly reminding her that she was a girl and he was the man. That she would bear his children one day and stay home as the housewife as Viking-law had it. That he would destroy for her, kill for her at the battlefield. But never die for her. He never mentioned that. 

No Night wasn’t really the problem. The fact that she’d kept up with him was. The fact that she’d been too weak to break up when she should have.

Her doubts had started long ago. When he first tried to kiss her only days into the relationship or when he hit her for the first time.

Astrid sat down on the ground slowly. The memory making her weak. She had been fighting and gotten a nasty scar out of it. He told her that women were supposed to be perfect and without flaws. When she denied it, he lifted his hand and struck. It burnt so bad. It prickled all over her face even though he’d only touched her cheek. She’d wanted to cry. But she was a warrior. She could take a hit. With her head held high, she left the house with a smile. It left a mark on her cheek the next day, but when Ruff asked, she had brushed it off, saying that it was from a dragon. It didn’t look like it came from a dragon.

Astrid fought back the tears.

She continued with him though. Because her parents wanted her married and they liked the stupid bravery that the boy had. She had smiled and faked everything. She would do anything for her family.

A violent relationship doesn’t start with a strike. It doesn’t start with shouting and screaming. It starts with a man who seems strong, loving and unbeatable. It starts with the guy that brings her roses and cheeky smiles over a glass of mead. It starts with the boy that she fought with for years, that she always thought were the mighty, the best. That’s why she didn’t run when he shouted. She didn’t run when he hit. She stayed because of the person she thought he was. The person she thought she knew. She stayed because maybe, just maybe it was a one-time thing. She stayed because of false love and broken promises.

But when he took her. When he took her purity from her, her honour that was when she said stop. She couldn’t deal with him. She wanted to crawl into a hole and cry every time she saw him. At the same time, she wanted to cut his head off. At every mention of him she saw him holding her hands up with such a strong grip that it left marks on her wrists. Every time she saw him she saw that dark room, that hunger in his eyes. Every time she heard his voice, she heard his commands for her to stay silent. His promises that it would be quick. That it would be over soon. And his cruel laugh when she cried. She hated him. She hated him so much that she wanted to die.

No.

She wanted him to die. She wanted to kill him. Forcefully. She wanted to watch him bleed out as she cut something deep into his heart, or as she shoved her axe into his skull. Or maybe she wanted it to be slowly. Maybe she wanted him to suffer as she had by his hands. She wanted him dead. But not before she made him bleed.

The woman stood up with a start and flung the axe at the nearest tree. A satisfying crack filled her ears as she pretended that it was his head. She didn’t wipe away the tears running down her red cheeks. With an angry shout she threw the axe again and again and again. She imagined that it hit his head, his heart, just him for Thor’s sake.

She didn’t see the monsterous nightmare sneaking up on her, and neither did she see the nadder defending her. What she did see was the nadder turning around after the fight, when the nightmare had flown away. Astrid looked at the dragon for a few seconds before she lifted her axe into fighting position and took a stand. She needed to kill something.

The nadder squawked at her, flopping its wings and slamming its tale down to the ground with a warning ‘shmack!’. Then Astrid attacked. She jumped, taking a hold of the blue nadders horn and swinging herself on top of it, just in time to escape the hot flames. Then she ran down it’s body, concentrating, and jumped off on the other side.

“HYAH!” She shouted as she attacked once more. For a moment she had forgotten about its spiky tale. As the spikes shot up, and the tale swiped towards her legs she jumped, barely touching one spike with the sole of her boot. She let out a ringing laughter when she caught one of the nadders spikes in her hand. It was great to be back on track where she belonged.

It took to the air and aimed to her. She gripped it’s blue and yellow spike and threw it. When a nadder shoots its spikes, it always leaves its stomach unarmed. The spike hit. It barely left a mark, because of the nadder’s thick skin, but it still made it fall to the ground. 'Thump’ Astrid ran towards it. Letting out her battle cry she lifted her axe on the way and let it fall.

It was just about to hit the animals neck when she hesitated. It almost reminded her of herself. Spikes out, walls up. Full of armour, probably killed more humans than it could count. Razor sharp and cold as ice. But it was not the sharpness of its claws, nor the spikiness of its tale that surprised Astrid. It was the Nadders bravery. Astrid had known for a long time that dragons had stupid bravery that got them killed. But this? This was something else.

How it didn’t blink when Astrid had it under her axe. How it looked straight in her eyes with a cold gaze and waited for its death.

And then she saw it. In the dragon’s eyes. Something that reminded her of… honour? Dragons with honour. What a stupid thought! Dragons didn’t have honour. They were like sheep. Dumb, only following their flock. 

Then again, what did she do? Would she dare abandon her flock? Probably not. She was trained to protect her loved ones and kill her enemies. Not to flee. And as Astrid continued to wonder, the Nadder flew away. 

………………………………………………………………….

Hiccup frowned when Stormfly flew towards him. “What in Odin’s name took you so long?” He asked chuckling, and then motioned for her to follow him. “Yeah, yeah, let’s just get home.” The man called the rider patted his dragon and felt Toothless body readjust as they prepared for the long home journey. “So… -what the-?” The man turned around only to see the Nadder heading back towards the island. 

“Stormfly! How-?” He leaned and turned around, speeding after the dragon. She squawked at him. “So… you are coming later, then?” He asked, only to get no response. The dragon only looked at him and continued. “Stormfl- argh-” Hiccup pushed Toothless further, receiving a grunt from the dragon.

“Hey! It’s not my fault!” Toothless stopped mid-air and flicked his ear a bit to get his riders attention. Hiccup glanced down to the island, the hunters had already gathered under them. Realizing that arrows were sizzling past their ears, Hiccup looked down to Stormfly before he pulled Toothless up.

“You’re right bud. We can’t risk getting shot. Stormfly’s already below their point of aim anyways.” The Rider scratched his chin, wondering what to do. “How ‘bout you shoot a warning?” The nightfury let out an agreeing sound before shooting a plastmablast near the unsuspecting nadder. Unfortunately, she ignored it and continued. 

The hunters shot more arrows towards Stormfly, but she dodged them easily. Hiccup saw her press her wings to her sides, angle her tale straight and press her head forward to achieve maximum speed. Then, when she got close to the ground she let her wings out to stop the fall and readied her claws. Suddenly the Rider saw her goal. The girl.

The girl he had been fighting earlier. Astrid.

The young man looked panicked to Stormfly. Toothless growled, not impressed. The dragons knew that killing Astrid was out of the question. They knew that she was Hiccups only. Hiccup reasoned with that Stormfly either wanted to kill her or… well, that was probably the only answer. He had no time to react, and plainly looked when the nadder picked up the blonde girl.

Astrid didn’t see anything until she was lifted from her feet. “Oh Thor… OH THOR! Aaaaaahh!” She screamed as she was lifted higher up. She scrambled to get a hold of the nadder’s foot, clamping her legs and arms around it.

“Astrid!” Ruff shouted in despair as she could do nothing but see her best friend float away. She kicked Snotlout in the leg and screamed. 

“NO! Why didn’t you do something!” She shouted in a shrill voice. Tuffnut came up behind her, looking amused at Snotlout who was jumping on one leg trying not to make a fuss and put a firm hand on her shoulder. 

“We’ll get her back. Chicken’s a good tracker." Snotlout grunted in agreement. He stood silent, watching Astrid disappear before he turned around. 

“Let’s go kill that son of a half troll rider."


	2. Chapter 2

“Rider! Get me down from here!” She shouted furiously and terrified, gripping the nadder’s foot for a firm hold. As expected, the Rider said nothing. To Astrid it seemed like he didn’t care, but he was thinking.

He couldn’t go down at once. Too many hunters were gathering, and they would surely take him down no matter how strong he and Toothless was. The Rider threw a dirty gaze towards Stormfly. Why would she do something this reckless?

He sighed as Toothless slowed down. Both dragons were tiering out. They had to head back home, and soon. He made a motion with his hand, telling Stormfly to follow him and Toothless. Putting Astrid back was way too risky.

“Wha-? Are you seriously kidnapping me? I will- argh! Rider! Put me back down!” She swung threatening with her axe, but The Rider ignored her. After a while he realized that hanging from one arm would hurt after a while, since he had no sign for such, he simply told Stormfly to let the girl up on her back. The nadder bent her foot and loosened her claws slightly, so the young woman could use her foot as a step.

Astrid put her foot on the homemade ‘step’ and swung her body around it, reaching up to get a hold of something… anything! In a last desperate moment Astrid thought that she was going to fall to her death. But then a hand grabbed her elbow. The Rider was flying upside-down over her, the nightfury’s tongue lolling out of its mouth. She had a strong feeling to slap the hand aside, but quickly grabbed a hold of it instead. She hoisted herself up without a word. The blonde steadied herself, hands outstretched to both sides. 

“Aren’t you going to tell me where to hold on?!” She shouted up at him. He turned around with his dragon, now flying the right way. Then he grabbed something and took it out from under his saddle. Shortly after, he threw a rope at her. She barely caught it, not used to staying in the air.

“Where do I put it?” Astrid looked around. The skies were again white and absent of life. “Where… did he go?” She asked herself. The Rider was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully the nadder didn’t seem worried. “Do you know where he went?” She asked the dragon but felt stupid at once for asking a monster. 

Astrid gripped her axe tight and waited. Apart for the freezing wind, the air around her was quiet. There were white clouds all around her, and after a while Astrid realized that it was in fact quite beautiful. She almost didn’t catch when The Rider and his nightfury glided sideways up at her side. But then he once again surprised her by talking.

“It goes around her stomach.” He put the rope the right way and Astrid nodded, knotting it tight. She gripped it, relaxing only slightly on top of the dragon. 

Astrid looked back up in the sky, her eyes following the patterns in blue and white.

“It’s beautiful, right?“ Astrid didn’t respond, she turned her head to the Rider but kept her expression guarded. It was weird, watching a mask talk. Astrid kept a tight grip on the rope, her knuckles whitening. Her posture was stiff.

The rider would have smiled at her to make her more at ease, but the mask hid all emotion. For the first time in forever, he wondered if he could turn a human into liking dragons. She didn’t seem too far off; he could see Astrid doubting what she had grown up to know as Stormfly dipped and floated with the Viking on her back. He looked at the young woman next to him and saw the same curious expression that he wore so many times while growing up. Though it was slightly hidden by a front of distrust, he didn’t doubt that it was there. That little frown that he knew so well; the need to learn more.

The rider knew he was too easily drawn in by the peculiar. He knew that he shouldn’t trust her. Well, not completely anyway. He liked to put his trust in people, he was an open person by nature. It was one of the traits he had not been gifted by either of his parents. They had warned him about trusting people, and honestly, he had tried to listen. But if this was to work, this crazy idea of his, he had to make her see this world. And that meant seeing him.

Astrid shot up straight when she spotted The Rider was taking off his mask. The black scales lifted, and when it was gone, what she saw was nothing that she expected.

Instead of a bearded demonic face of what she thought was the rider, the mask hid a handsome young male with a few beard stubs and a defined chin. His eyes suddenly seemed less scary and more gorgeous as his auburn hair crowned his face like a mane around him.

She watched his eyes widen as if not entirely certain he had been in control of his former action. He ruffled his hair slightly, letting it wild in the wind and the surprise melted off his face. He must have seen her shocked face, because he laughed.

“Yeah… don’t worry, I’m not that scary.” He flashed a grin that most Viking women only dreamt about. Astrid fought the urge to smile back.

“Good to know.” She remarked, still careful not to show too much emotion. 

He laughed. “But honestly, I wasn’t going to kidnap you, Stormfly just picked you up and…” he glared at the nadder for a moment before continuing. “I… don’t know why.” Astrid stared at the man.

“Its name is Stormfly?” She asked flatly. He frowned for a bit before answering.

“It’s a her actually, but yeah.” Astrid frowned, looking at the nadder underneath her.

“And she… picked me up without you telling her to.” The man nodded.

“Yes.” Astrid stared at him, he stared back. She watched every motion of his face. He seemed on edge. His eyes just as calculating as hers. She realized the practical reasons for wearing a mask. He wore his emotions like he wore his clothes, not even remotely hiding them as he watched her. She could see the confusion, honesty and suspicion race over his face in one simple motion.

“I don’t believe you.” The Rider looked surprised at Astrid.

“You… don’t?” He asked, frowning.

“No. You control the dragons. They wouldn’t disobey your orders. You’re the dragon master.” The man’s surprised expression turned in to a grin.

“Co-control them?” He scoffed, when she nodded, he laughed. He let out a long flowing laughter and sent her a look of disbelief.

“I don’t control them! Look at him!” He laughed again, patting the nightfury’s forehead. “You seriously think that I could control Toothless?”

“I-” The man continued chuckling while toothless let out something that reminded Astrid of rumbling laughter. But that couldn’t be it. Right?

“Then what do you do?” She asked still proudly holding her head up in contrast to being wrong.

“I befriend them…” Astrid looked at him for a few seconds. The Rider grinned at her and scratched his nightfury behind one ear, the giant animal responding by affectionately shaking its head from side to side.

“You do what now?” She asked unamused. He only smiled. Astrid crossed her arms with a disbelieving scoff.

“You can’t be friends with dragons. They’re monsters.” The dragon she was riding turned sharply as if understanding what she said.

“Yeah. Okay. You don’t get it.” The man sighed and once again disappeared into the gray clouds.

Stormfly seamed weary this time. She flapped her wings too fast and let out a puff of smoke through her nostrils. They stopped completely; Astrid patted the dragon slowly as she would have petted an angry yak.

“Where did he go…” She wondered out loud. She looked around, but her sight was blocked by clouds in any direction. With a sharp turn of her head she detected what could’ve been a shadow.

“Go find out.” She heard the whispers through the clouds.

“Rider?” She asked, she looked around once more, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

“Come find me.” Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“This is stupid!” She shouted through the layer of clouds, peering for the shadow she had seen a trace of. The rider laughed as if she humoured her, it sounded further away. Astrid didn’t have time for such games.

“Rider! Seriously?” She grabbed the rope around Stormfly tightly. A chuckle echoed around her, it taunted her.

“By Thor’s beard! Are you challenging me?” The silence around Astrid stretched like a quiet maybe?. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

‘No Astrid. No.’ She thought furiously to herself. The blonde pressed her knuckles to her mouth and almost screamed into them. ‘For once in your life, just don’t give in! Don’t do it.’ She muttered. The blonde glanced around and snapped her head to the left as a red tail reflected through her foggy surroundings.

She was going to do it.

“I never back down from a challenge.” She shouted confidently, before rolling her eyes. That was so typical her.

“Go!” Astrid shouted and kicked the dragon in her side slightly. Stormfly didn’t move an inch. “Come on, let’s go!” She continued, trying to rock forward. Stormfly only grumbled. With a huff Astrid changed strategies.

Astrid bowed down to the ear of her blue dragon slowly. Her blonde curls tickled the Nadders skin. “Okay, I know that you don’t particularly like me, but we need to get to the Rider. You in?” Stormfly squawked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Astrid leaned forward, letting Stormfly dip downwards in a dizzying speed. Blonde curls rippled behind her as the woman held on tight to the rope. They dipped below the clouds and a horizon of blue mended with mist stretched on before them. Astrid still couldn’t see far ahead of her.

“Let’s go girl, come on.” She whispered to Stormfly, they shot forward even faster than before when suddenly columns of rock appeared before them. Astrid screamed and leaned to the right, barely missing a sure death. Another appeared. “Left! Left!” She shouted, leaning as far as she dared along with the blue dragon. The column swooped past beside them. Slowly Astrid got the hang of it. Enjoying the thrill of flying past everything, the world melting away behind her.

“Come on, almost out!” She shouted as they passed another column with a swoosh. Astrid yelped as she saw the bridge of stone they were heading for and leaned down quickly, the water was getting nearer and nearer, but they still weren’t out from under the bridge. Right before they hit the blue depths Stormfly backed up with a force Astrid had never seen before. Astrid’s eyes shone with the glint of a burning fire.

They evened out with the water and Astrid punched the air. “Whooohoo!” She screamed happily. “Yes!” Stormfly shot fire before flying up towards blue sky. “Come-on, come-on!” She laughed and leaned flat with the nadder’s back.

As if getting ready for another adventure, Stormfly evened out and flew straight forward. More rock formations were coming up in their way. Astrid was ready this time.

Her eyes gleamed with mischief. “Let’s do this.” They floated in sync, flying between the rocks in a bliss. Sometimes almost hitting them, but then they pulled away at the last second. She felt the wind soaring across her forehead in an alarming speed, and she saw the rocks zooming past her as she let loose with her new friend. 

At last they came to an end with an island. “Yes!” The former hunter patted Stormfly gratefully. “That sure was something, huh? Shi-mountain!” Astrid screamed in surprise as they promptly crashed into the giant rock. Stormfly let out a grumble and rocked her body so that Astrid almost fell off.

“Jupp, I’m sorry, sorry.” She blinked to get the surprise out of her eyes and looked down at the island that they had found.

“Do you know this place?” Astrid looked at the blue and yellow dragon curiously, but they both looked quite clueless.

“Good job!” The Rider startled Astrid to the point that she almost jumped off Stormfly. She laughed, relief flowing through her.

“Yeah. You’re right, this is pretty amazing.” He nodded and smiled. She patted Stormfly’s head. “She’s amazing.” Astrid looked around curiously.

“So…where are we?” He looked around with a fond smile.

“Can’t you see?” Astrid frowned as she scanned the aria. When she looked down, something big and white, almost slightly yellow caught her eye. At a closer look, Astrid realized that it was a gigantic skeleton with half of its scull crushed. Astrid gasped.

“Is this… the nest?” She asked with big eyes. The man shrugged.

“I wouldn’t say the nest, but it was a nest once, or, I guess it still kind of is.” She looked down at the skeleton once more before leaning down to look at it closer. Stormfly understood her rider’s curiosity and flew downwards with her. They did not hear Hiccup’s cry behind them.

“No! Don’t, there lives-!” He didn’t finish his sentence, already soaring towards them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MWAHAHA (replace with how you write evil laughter) MY VERY OWN CLIFFHANGER! *evil cackling in the background*
> 
> Did yah like it? Did yah? I really hope so! This work is my baby. Its like my... nightlight ;-) AND ALSO, can you guess who's home Astrid is soaring towards at the moment?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astrid really shouldn't have disturbed the pile of bones. We also get to discover what kind of man our rider really is...

Astrid looked at how huge the skeleton was and felt a feeling of slight fear shiver up her spine. They had been looking for this nest for ages. What if they had found it before this beast was dead? They would have been killed, all of them with only a swipe of its tale.

The giant dragon skeleton was big and only partly crushed, the skin had rotted years ago, but the reek of the beast was still very recognizable. The bone around the dragon didn’t seem to belong to only itself, its surroundings looked a lot like it had become an dragon graveyard. Astrid recognized many of the sculls she had seen in her hometown, but many were also new.

Astrid jumped off Stormfly as they landed, her feet barely hitting the ground before she heard bone clattering behind her. Believing that it was the man with the dragon, she turned quickly to ask him her many questions. But stopped dead in her tracks.

Staring back at her petite frame stood an intimidating dragon, bigger, stronger and more frightening than she’d ever seen before. She recognized the beast from Gobber’s scare-tales. 

“Bone-Knapper,” She whispered in awe. A few seconds the two warriors simply stared at each other. Completely frozen in time. With a speed only known by those in battle, Astrid flung her body towards Stormfly, but the dragon covered in bones was too fast. It put its gigantic claws over her and trapped her, a blade-like claw on each side of her head.

From a distance Hiccup saw Astrid getting trapped. “Faster Toothless, faster!” The nightfury was already pushing himself to the limit.

Astrid let out a shuttering breath of air. She felt the weight of the bone knapper’s foot on her chest, and she was sure that this would be her ending.

The dragon boy had led her to her death. She should never have trusted that monster. In her mind she still heard his voice, in her last moments, somehow his voice was what reached her.

“Hey! Hey, over here!” Oh… wait… No that was not her imagination. The claws lifted and let her out of her prison. Astrid scrambled away from the place where she had been trapped breathing heavily.

She looked up as a hand grabbed hers and pulled her to her feet. Her legs couldn’t hold her, and she fell back onto the ground. The rider sighed and lifted her up in his hands, bridal style. Astrid didn’t say much.

He just saved her life, why she didn’t know, but at least he wouldn’t kill her. She watched him put her in front on Toothless. Without a word he sat behind her, with his chest pressed against her back making his body a safe chair for her. Then they took off.

In the air Astrid breathed in the feeling of flying again. On Stormfly it was an adrenalin kick so big and amazing that it blew Astrid’s mind. On Toothless, with the Rider it was different. It calmed her in a way nothing else had before. Weird. Feeling calm with a person she had never known.

Somehow, she knew that he was mad at her. Perhaps for going down to the skeleton without his permission. That was the only reason Astrid could think of. But he was angry, that was for certain. His chest was rigid against her back, and she watched his knuckles turn white on the end of the saddle. Astrid had never been one to dance around the question.

“Why are you angry?” The rider shook his head.

“I’m not.” Astrid glanced unimpressed at the rider and stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“Yes, you are,” She continued not long after.

“No Astrid, I’m not!” Astrid watched Toothless roll his eyes under them.

“But you are though.” With a frustrated shout Hiccup dropped onto his back.

“Let’s go home bud.” He turned his head to Stormfly who was gliding beside them.

“Home, Stormfly.” The giant bird squawked happily and bobbed her head before setting course for the red glowing volcano. The blonde crossed her arms unsatisfied.

“Fine, but don’t think you’ve won this.” The rider rolled his eyes but stayed silent.

Astrid broke the silence not long after.

“So, I thought you said all dragons are your friends?” The auburn-haired man chuckled.

“Didn’t say that exactly.” He rolled his shoulders as he started explaining.

“Well, most of them are soft when you get to know them. It really depends on the dragon. They have personalities just like us humans.” Astrid huffed and glanced sceptically over at the rider but said nothing.

“Usually I get to know them, and they soften a little bit. But… I never really figured out what’s got his tail in a knot though.” He was silent for a while and Astrid let the feeling of soft wind stroking her cheeks fill her. “Can’t save everyone I guess.” The rider chuckled but there was something sad to the laughter, something that he held back. Astrid didn’t prod.

They neared the volcano not long afterwards.

“Better hold your breath, hunter.” The rider shouted over the wind as Toothless climbed in altitude and let himself fall. The hole of the volcano grew larger every second and the bubbling red lava seemed to rise towards them. They were plummeting towards death and for some reason they did not slow down.

“Rider, rider! We’re getting too close! Rider!” Astrid screamed as the volcano devoured them. Either the rider didn’t hear her, or he was ignoring her because he didn’t stop.

“I don’t know what it is but whatever I did I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The young woman who was not at all used to flying shouted as many curses as she could think of while pressing her back to the Rider in fear.

“For the love of-! Thor almighty-what are you doing?! Rider!” The warm, dry ashes of the volcano flew like black snow around them. She breathed it in as she screamed, it dried up her throat, she couldn’t breathe.

Only a few seconds before they hit the lava Toothless turned like he had done it a thousand times before and flew into a cave opening that Astrid hadn’t noticed. The slim nightfury effortlessly glided through the dark cave-halls and landed in a large area.

Astrid scrambled off Toothless, not willing to stay on the flying death machine for one more minute. Only when she felt safe sitting on the black ground did she look at her surroundings.

The room she was sitting in was filled with different machines and devices. She didn’t know what most of them was. Many weapons hung on the walls and none were alike. There were canons, bows, crossbows, swords, daggers and axes. A part of the wall was completely covered in tools, a lot like Gobber’s workshop.

In the centre of the cave was a gigantic tree-bowl so large that two persons could fit in the bottom of it if they curled up. It was filled to the brim with the brightest most wonderful water she’d ever seen. The water dripped in a steady stream from a hole in the ceiling. Toothless wandered over to the bowl with a happy gurgling sound to drink a few gulps of water as Astrid realized that it had to be manmade.

She glanced at Hiccup who also was drinking from the bowl and shook her head. This guy had to be mad.

With a look of wonder Astrid took in the rest of the room, in a corner lied a sleeping full grown nightmare. The rider didn’t seem to pay it any mind. But what surprised Astrid was the tiny holes in the cave.

Inside the miniature caves were every dragon she could imagine; some she’d only heard legends about and many she’d never seen or heard of. Nadders, Zipplebacks, Nightmares, Gronckles, Timberjacks, Stormcutters, Speed Stingers, Changewings even a tiny Scrill.

And all were babies. Dragon babies. She’d never seen dragon babies before. She’d always assumed that they existed of course, but the dragons never brought their young to fight humans. And the weirdest thing was; they were cute. They looked almost as if they couldn’t harm a soul.

Almost.

“They’re cute, right?” Astrid nodded, frowning slightly.

“How can something so cute turn into something so deadly?” The rider sat down beside her.

“By seeing the world for what it truly is long before they’re ready for it. A lot like humans.” Astrid looked down at her boots. Did that happen to her? Did she see the world before she was ready? She’d never thought of it that way before. She didn’t really like to think of it that way either.

“When are you going to let me go?” The rider looked at Astrid and grinned jokingly.

“Why, is it really so bad here?” Astrid frowned, refusing to look at the rider.

“I don’t trust anyone, especially not you.” He nodded and turned to look at Toothless and Stormfly.

“That makes sense. Survival instincts.” He stood and brushed off his pants.

“I don’t know,” He answered.

“Guess we’ll have to wait until the Vikings aren’t on guard anymore. Stormfly pretty much messed up all my plans for this entire month. We’ll have to lay low for a while.” He offered his gloved hand to Astrid, helping her get up.

“Then we’ll drop you off somewhere, you’ll forget what you saw, and everything will go back to normal.” He hesitated slightly, and a smaller, more genuine smile lighted up his features.

“Unless you decide otherwise,” He continued.

If Astrid hadn’t at that exact moment realized that she couldn’t walk, she’d probably asked the rider about those last words. But given the circumstances, she didn’t.

With a small shout Astrid fell back down, her ankle twisting in a painful angle.

“Ouch, dragon dung.” She grabbed her ankle and twisted it the right way. Not letting out a sound.

Stupid pain.

“What did you do to my legs, rider?” The rider didn’t answer, he looked at her feet with thoughtful eyes.

“I swear I will kill you,” Astrid threatened as the nightfury growled.

“Slowly,” She added, looking in the nightfury’s eyes.

“Painfully,” She continued, realizing that the nightfury didn’t like her very much.

“Unless you undo whatever happened to my feet.” The rider stayed silent.

Then, seemingly without thinking about it much, he lifted her like a bride and walked deeper into the system of caves. Astrid had assumed the cave where they landed was the only cave.

Astrid should stop assuming stuff.

The cave led to a corridor where one could take several swings and turns into different rooms. She didn’t like being carried by the rider much but got distracted as she watched the rooms they walked past.

She recognized a blacksmiths cave with a giant burning oven, along with several tools, small and big.

Next was a cave where water boiled in giant holes in the ground, that cave was steaming.

They also walked past at least four caves with sleeping dragons, Astrid tried not to breathe so much around those caves in the hope of none of them waking up. The rider walked steadily and didn’t look like he had any problem carrying a grown woman in his arms.

Astrid sat uncomfortably stiff in the rider’s arms. She didn’t like being carried or held or hugged, she really didn’t like being touched in any way.

They took a turn into a slightly smaller cave. The room they were in had walls covered in drawings and paintings, white against black.

The drawings were peculiar, they weren’t drawings of people or landscapes or settings, but they were beautiful in an entirely different way.

They were drawings of inventions, covered with numbers and angles and instructions. Some paintings held detailed descriptions of dragons. They showed where every limb started and ended, those were also accompanied by instructions. Instructions of how to tame them, how to befriend them and secrets of how to make them stronger. Some of the dragon paintings even had colours. Astrid scanned the drawings and wondered exactly how smart this dragon rider really was.

The room held many other items as well.

A desk covered most of the wall to their right. It was filled with parchment in one end, sheets of paper with scribbles of dragons and inventions also covering most of the wall above the desk.

On the floor by the other side of the desk were huge amounts of trinkets. The part of the desk that was not covered by papers were seemingly clean for the occupation of one single invention. Astrid couldn’t see what it was, but metal pins, leather and tiny metal balls were laid untidily on the wooden table.

A bed was stuffed in a corner, and clothes along with inventions was scattered around the room. Something that looked a lot like scrap-metal was piled up to their left. Astrid recognized strange swords, small daggers and a shining, perfectly balanced axe. Thor, she wanted that axe.

With a tiny gasp she realized where the rider was headed. The fur-covered bed in the corner. Her hands shook. “What are you doing?” Astrid asked, grasping the rider’s arm painfully. The rider looked at Astrid like it was obvious and shook his head as she didn’t seem less panicked.

“Where are you taking me?” If she could have, she would’ve kicked him by now. 

The rider started talking, trying to calm the girl down.

“Don’t worry, if you would just-!” It didn’t help. It was as if Astrid didn’t hear him. Everything was a blur.

“Stop it. Stop!” She shouted. The blonde grabbed his hair and tugged it back, making the man stumble and fall. He made sure that she somehow landed on top of him. He groaned. Astrid tried getting away from the rider to no help. She couldn’t walk, she couldn’t move. He could do anything with her. Anything.

Astrid started to tremble. The shadow of a night she’d desperately tried to forget jumped at her again. She was back where she started. She could never escape from what he’d made her. She felt her eyes water, but she wouldn’t start that now. She would not let this creature of a man see her cry. She wiped her eyes furiously and dragged herself a few meters away from the rider, backing up to a wall. The man stood up and sighed.

“What is going on, Astrid? Why are you so-.”

He stopped mid-sentence, glancing between Astrid and the bed. With a defeated sound he realized what she’d been thinking.

A fury raged in his emerald eyes.

“What did he do?” The auburn haired demanded an answer through clenched teeth.

“What in Helheim did that scum do to you?!” Astrid flinched and scooted further up against the wall. She shook her head.

She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell anyone. And he was a stranger, the rider, she couldn’t let him in on her darkest secret. Why he had such a reaction to what had happened to her, she didn’t know. A silence like a thick blanket covered the room. The rider slumped against a wall and slid down, so he was sitting as she was.

“I would never…” He mumbled after a while. Astrid looked up at the man she barely knew and tipped her head.

“What?” She asked, still shaking a bit. The rider didn’t answer at once. He sighed and shook his head before standing up.

“I was going to offer you my bed.” He gestured to the mountain of furs. Astrid remained silent.

The rider sighed audibly. “I’m not good at… talking… to people.” He kept his hands at his sides, his eyes avoided her. “Uh…Sorry bout that.” His hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out to her, but she flinched. He took a few skittish steps away, like a spooked dragon.

“I… your legs will be fine. You’ll just have to sleep it off. Happens after the first ride, it’s worse when you don’t have a saddle.” He backed out of the room and gestured around the room awkwardly.

“You-uh-make yourself comfy. There’s water over there, and-um-call out and I’ll get you whatever… anything we can provide. I’ll just-er-leave… now.” Then he was gone.

Astrid shivered even though the room was warm. Slowly but surely, she crawled over to the bed and under the covers. She kicked off her boots and pulled off her armour. She kept on most of her clothing. She still didn’t trust that odd man. The covers were warm and inviting. She fell asleep almost at once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit longer than I wanted, but the story's moving somewhere at least!


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid woke to metal clinking the morning after and groaned. This had to be way too early. Astrid didn’t like early mornings. Her eyes ached and burned as she opened them. With a grunt she rubbed her eyelids and shoved the furs away from her, scooting out from under the warm pile. She smiled and stretched. Astrid doubted she’d ever had such a good night’s sleep.

She opened her eyes and shielded for the light. The room she was in slowly came into sight. This was not her room. Astrid shouted frustrated and flung herself back against the covers. She’d completely forgotten about yesterday. 

“AY!” Astrid whipped her head towards the sound of surprise and saw the rider lying on the ground by his desk. He looked windswept.

“What are you doing on the ground?” Astrid frowned. The rider chuckled awkwardly. 

“I, uh, fell.” Astrid stood and walked over to the man on the floor. Her feet were acing but thankfully she could walk. 

“Why?” He scrambled to his feet and leaned on the bench. 

“You shouted. I thought you were sleeping, and I were just getting something.” He explained with a slight blush. Astrid shook her head in awe. Who could have thought? The rider that they were all so afraid of was a complete dork.

“You…?” Astrid stopped before it became too awkward and changed whatever she was about to say. “What is your name?” The rider laughed mockingly. With a slight defensive tone Astrid stopped him. 

“You kidnapped me! The least you can do is tell me your name!” She shouted annoyed. The rider smiled apologetically to her. 

“Astrid, you’re the greatest dragon slayer in our time and the smartest woman in the arcapelligo. You’re the girl who has killed more dragons than she can count, the woman that punched her fiancé in the face, the blonde that killed a dragon without sight. Did you really think I’d tell you my name?” Astrid shivered slightly. Yesterday morning she would have smiled with confidence at her title, today it made her sick. She shook it off. 

“Then I’ll call you Haddock.” The rider stumbled and looked up with big eyes. 

“What?” He asked in a shrill voice.

Astrid walked over to the bed to put on her armour and shrugged. “You remind me of a Chief we had once. I was too young. Barely a year.” She put on her shoulder pieces. 

“They say he had the greenest eyes.” She put on her boots and turned back to the man behind her. His eyes looked like how she’d always imagined her Chief’s.

“His wife and son were killed by a dragon; one he couldn’t defeat. They say he went mad, believed them to still be alive and such.” She shrugged, attaching her fur hood. The rider watched her curiously, slowly picking up the papers he had dropped while she explained.

“He sailed out to sea, either to kill the dragon or save his family, whatever came first. He never returned.” Astrid didn’t look at the man, adverting her eyes to admire the painted walls. “Stoic the Vast Haddock was his name.” 

A silence stretched between them, the rider tinkered with some trinket on the desk, nodding slowly. Astrid saw that he was working on the axe. She realized the hammering sound she woke from to be the rider putting nails in the handle. She was about to walk out of the room when he stopped her. 

“Where are you going?” Haddock asked, his eyes examining her face. Astrid pulled his hand off her arm. 

“I’m going to look around.” She stated. Haddock shook his head. 

“You can’t.” Astrid didn’t seem impressed. She crossed her arms. 

“I’m bored.” She crossed her arms in front of her. Haddock looked between her and the entrance before he grabbed her hand with a big grin. 

“Follow me.” 

Astrid stared dumbfounded as the rider dragged her quickly through the net of caves that was his hideout. They pressed through tiny cracks and ran past giant halls. She stumbled along slippery walkways and jumped over rocky floors. The rider was in his best element. He skipped through the hallways as if he’d grown up there (had he grown up there?), while Astrid wondered if she could ever find her way back. He knew this place like the back of his hand, all plans Astrid had of escaping disappeared. 

Well, most of them anyways.

With a skip and a beat, they were out in fresh air. Astrid smiled as she breathed in deeply. She looked around to see the deep ocean to their right and green fields stretched wide to their left. 

“Did you know that volcanic earth is one of the best places for plants to grow?” Astrid watched as Haddock turned to her with a crooked grin. Then he took off. The rider shouted for her to keep up with a chuckle as he continued over the fields. 

Astrid shook her head, laughed and continued after the mad man. They ran through the grass, Astrid felt the wind stroke her cheeks softly as the grass whipped past her legs, the mud splashing her heels. She felt her breath deepen like it always did when she ran. Haddock were speeding up ahead of her. She couldn’t have that. 

The blonde willed her feet to go faster, she felt a pleasant burning in her legs. She came closer, almost at the same speed as the rider, when he turned to look at her and smirked. His teeth glinted in the sun, his eyebrows quirked and something... something sparked in his eyes. A competition.

Oh, he was on. 

As if a shot had been fired they both sped up. One just slightly behind the other. Astrid clenched her teeth. 

And then they were even, feet thumping at the same time when they ran over the last hill and colour blinded Astrid. 

She stopped. The sight before her were something she couldn’t quite take in while running. She let out a gasp and Haddock stopped a bit ahead of her. 

Before them was a field of color. Dragons that Astrid could only compare to giant butterflies were quietly grassing before them. Tens, maybe hundreds.   
Haddock looked at her and observed her reaction. 

“This is what you were about to show me?” Astrid asked in a quiet breath. He nodded in agreement and gazed out at the flowery creatures. 

“Do you want to see something cool?” Haddock asked after a while, his face grazed with the slightest of mischief. Astrid let her eyes flow over the colourful wings and nodded. 

“Follow my lead then?” She turned her attention to him and looked him over once before she nodded again. He held his hand out to her and she grabbed it with only a flicker of hesitation. 

“One, two…” Haddock glanced over at Astrid and let her see his smile. She smiled back. 

“Three!” 

He ran ahead and she followed him, together they stormed into the flock of giant wings. The dragons that were quite small without their wings surged to the air with a series of loud flutters. From them emerged a cloud filled with all the colours of a rainbow.   
Pink, yellow, blue, green, and every shade Astrid had ever dreamed of hit her cheeks. She blinked several times to get the dust out of her eyes as she laughed blissfully. She felt the bright dust surround her and she let go of Haddocks hand, running off into the nearest cloud as she looked up at the ascending dragons. Flutters of flowers, priding the heavens with their beauty. Astrid had never seen anything as astounding. 

She had never really found the beauty in simple things. Somehow the Rider made her desperately search for it in everything. Astrid loved it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 1,2 K
> 
> A/N: I am really sorry that this story is going so slow, but this year school has been really snapping at my heals (is that even a saying in english? i forget). Anyway, I really like this chapter and I'm already working on the next one, so maybe I'll actually finish a fic for once in my life? Here's to hoping! :-)

As Astrid danced in the different clouds, and the colours festered to her hair and clothes, the Rider looked at her, a smile adorning his features. He had never seen anyone this beautiful. Never anyone this free or this happy. He bathed in it. He let himself be swallowed by her happiness and felt pride for making her laugh. He wanted to make her laugh again.

He had been watching her for years. Not in a stalkerish way! 

Oh well… Maybe a little bit like that, but he wasn’t creepy or anything. He just took extra notice of Astrid in the battles they fought. She was tough as nails, and sometimes he had wondered if she had anything more than iron spikes in the place where her heart should have been.

Ever since he was a kid, Hiccup had learned how to save dragons. He had followed his mom to battle as a young teenager and learnt everything he could. And then it became his turn. His mother got grey streaks in her hair and decided to settle down for good. Though he knew he could always come to her for advice.

And while his mother had gone for the hunters in the south, Hiccup had decided to save the dragons in the north. 

The dragon hunters in the north were even more dangerous. That was one of the reasons why his mother had kept to the south. As a mother she had made sure not to put herself in more danger than she could handle. Hiccup had no one to be careful for. And toothless had come from the north when he found him, so he figured there would be some dragons worth saving.

The hunters in the north were harsher, tougher and contained more hate than Hiccup had ever seen before. He despised what they did and how they did it. But he couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. The young rider had found love and life within the dragon world, he cherished it. While trying to capture the dragons they missed out on a life full of wonder. For some reason he couldn’t completely grasp, it filled Hiccup with joy to be able to share this with Astrid. She was someone who he could see living like him… living with him?

Hiccup shook himself out of his thoughts and frowned, that was inappropriate. Astrid was wonderful, but she was a hunter. She hated dragons, she had been bread that way. 

But maybe, he thought, as he watched her stop in the middle of the field, hair fanning over her now glittering shoulders and she beamed breathlessly at him, maybe he could change her mind.

When Astrid came running back towards him, Hiccup wanted nothing but to envelop her in his arms. Her hair glittered in the breeze and she stopped a few meters away from him. Hiccup wanted to hold her tight and never let go… she looked so precious. 

Astrid frowned at his weirdness, and he forced down his arms that had gone halfway up to greet her. Toothless laughed mockingly. Hiccup kicked his paw lightly to shut him up and Toothless made sure to hit him in the head with his tail when he turned around.

“Don’t for a second think that this makes up for kidnapping me.” Astrid poked him harshly in the chest. 

Hiccup spluttered, “Wha- I- Stormfly!”, he held his hands up in defence. Astrid lifted her eyebrows, but Hiccup was certain he had seen her lips quirk a little. The blonde schooled her expression back to the careful frown she usually wore, and Hiccup grinned up at the sky. The colourful clouds were still swirling in the wind like a liquid rainbow. 

“Pretty cool, huh?” his grin was now directed at her, and Astrid had to turn away.

“It is not so bad.”, she stated, brushing a few strands of hair behind her left ear.

She flinched when the nightfury’s tail bumped into her leg on its way past her. The rider was still smiling, his teeth almost shining in the sun, when the dragon knocked him over playfully. Astrid almost reached over to protect him but stopped herself at the last second.

“Hey! Hey,”, the rider guffawed loudly and the nightfury put its head on his stomach. “Really, Toothless? Right, real mature.” The creature gurgled, Haddock laughed. 

“Fine!”, he exclaimed, “Fine, we’ll go for a ride.” The nightfury let him go. 

Haddock offered Astrid his hand and nodded towards Toothless. “Do you want to join us?”, he asked. Astrid thought he almost sounded hopeful, but she was sure it had been a trick of her ears. 

She politely declined his offer, “No way in hel.” She wiggled her fingers in Toothless direction, “I’m not flying on that death-machine again.” 

Haddock lifted his eyebrows at the sentence and chuckled. “You sure?” -he asked- “It’s fun!” 

Astrid frowned.

“I’m sure.”, she said, sarcasm dripping from every letter, and moved to sit down. The grass looked ever so inviting in this summer evening breeze. 

“Okay, I mean, if you’re scared, I won’t pressure you.” Astrid scrambled back on her feet and poked him furiously in the chest. Haddock took a step back, surprised. “Hey!” he protested, blocking her finger.

“I am not scared.” She put her hands on her hips proudly. “I am a shieldmaiden in training,” -she stepped closer and Haddock gulped- “So how dare you accuse me of cowardice?” 

Haddock couldn’t hide a grin at her anger and climbed Toothless in one swift movement. 

“Prove it.” He patted the seat behind him. Astrid jumped on without hesitation. 

The freezing air grazed Astrid’s uncovered arms when they took off. She blinked several times to see through her tear filled eyes. When she reached up to touch the clouds her hands became wet with the moisture. They stayed soaring in the skies until the heavens turned a deep red and then a dark blue. 

When Haddock pointed to the glimmering northern lights and told stories of giant dragons who never had to rest from flying but soared around the world, chasing the energy from the coloured lights, Astrid wrapped her arms around his chest and pressed her body to his back. She told herself the reason was the cold. A mocking voice inside her laughed at the mere idea. 

She cursed emotions to the depths of Helheim.

Toothless touched back on the ground and Astrid was happy. She smiled brightly when Haddock descended from his dragon and looked at her.

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. She put her hand on Toothless’s cold scales and stroked them carefully. 

“This is amazing.”, she whispered and glanced down at Toothless. 

“He is amazing.”

The wind ruffled her light hair and Hiccup hadn’t noticed before now that her braids had fallen out. 

She looked wild. 

With the moonlight shining behind her, she looked like she belonged there; a creature of starlight, a goddess of nature. Her hand glided over Toothless scales and she didn’t even flinch when a terrible terror rubbed against her leg fondly. With a start Hiccup realized exactly what she looked like. He bit his lip to stop him from shouting with joy when he thought of it; She looked like one of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t go back to them.” The words were almost a command, but Astrid could hear the pleading beneath them. His hand covered hers, they were warm, and Astrid laughed.
> 
> “Don’t?” -she frowned- “What will you have me do?” Astrid pulled her hands from his, not believing for a second that he was serious. “Should I stay here with you? Saving dragons until we’re grey and old?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words; 1,7 K
> 
> Warnings; Swearing maybe? A little fighting and some fluff :)
> 
> A/N: So, this took some time, but if you thought I had forgotten about this fic, you were wrong! Hope you like it, I included a lot of different clips and settings in this chapter. The plot is moving.
> 
> Update; I wrote some more on the last part of the chapter, so if you read this chapter before 17.05.2020, it has been changed only slightly. No major plot changes though.

“This is what it’s like, Astrid!” Hiccup gestured around them and laughed breathlessly. “Living with dragons is a life full of adventure and… beauty” -he finished, turning his head to look at her. She seemed speechless, out of words to answer him.

“I” -she sat down on a rock slowly- “I don’t know what you want me to say, Haddock.” Hiccup turned around, his eyes skimming the golden sunset.

“Do they seem evil to you?” his whisper was quiet, but loud enough for Astrid to catch the words in the soft wind. She sighed as she studied the terrible terror beside her.

“No.” she answered honestly. Hiccup had appeared in front of her, the dragon like way he acted made him almost soundless, Astrid started slightly.

“Don’t go back to them.” The words were almost a command, but Astrid could hear the pleading beneath them. His hand covered hers, they were warm, and Astrid laughed.

“Don’t?” -she frowned- “What will you have me do?” Astrid pulled her hands from his, not believing for a second that he was serious. “Should I stay here with you? Saving dragons until we’re grey and old?”

“Yes!” Astrid blanched at the shout; her jaw dropped when she saw the honesty in his eyes. “Stay here. You know the truth now; you have seen them! They are kind, intelligent and gentle creatures.” He crouched before her, taking her hands in his once again and tipped his head to the side.

“Stay with me Astrid.” He looked so much younger than she had ever seen him, it reminded her of a pup who had just grown up. She realized, startled, that he looked the way so many youths her age would have looked, had it not been for this ongoing war.

She felt her defences crack right in the middle, so she stood and backed up.

“You don’t understand, Haddock,” she said, sniffling to stop the burning in the bridge of her nose, “Before we started capturing and selling them, we were constantly attacked. If I stay here, if I give up on the fighting, I’ll be responsible for the death of my friends.” -she bit her lip- “of my family.”

Hiccup shook his head.

“We’ll show them. They can learn to live in peace with dragons, as I do!” Astrid smiled at his innocent expression and put a strong hand on his shoulder.

“But you’re special, Haddock. There is something about you… I-” she didn’t finish but Hiccup could understand a no. The breeze ruffled his hair, and Astrid couldn’t help but think he looked pretty like this. More like a boy than a monster.

His head dropped to his chest; she watched his curls as he let out a breath. When he looked at her again, his expression was neutral. Astrid swallowed at the unnatural mask he put on.

“I’ll put you back tomorrow. On the other side of the island.” Astrid opened her mouth, maybe to protest, but stopped when he looked at her with those emerald eyes, they seemed dull.

“You can tell them you escaped,” he muttered, eyes not leaving hers, “that you used Stormfly or something like that.” When she didn’t speak, Hiccup hesitated only for a second before pecking her cheek.

“Tomorrow,” he repeated and disappeared back into the mountain.

Astrid was left behind, eyes wide, cheeks flushed and a head full of questions she couldn’t answer.

\---------

Just inside the entrance of the first cave Hiccup pressed his back to the rugged wall and breathed heavily. Had he just done that? Had he kissed Astrid Hofferson?!

He could still feel the soft skin of her cheek against his lips, and he let a smile nip at his cheeks. She had let him, he realized. Or maybe she had been frozen with surprise, shocked, as he had been.

Toothless put a stop to his train wreck of thoughts when he slowly walked past him with curious eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Hiccup whispered and pushed the giant lizard away before he dazedly walked back to his spare room.

Which was where he promptly realized Astrid would be leaving tomorrow and everything would go back to the way they had been.

He didn’t doubt it was a good decision, the Vikings weren’t prepared for an attack this early after the last one and if Astrid stayed any longer... He knew that if she stayed any longer, he wouldn’t be able to let her go.

The other part of Hiccup’s brain screamed to keep her, just for a few days, see how she adapted, how she reacted to this new world. He could learn what made her tick.

Despite it all, Hiccup forced himself to pack up his bags before he went to sleep. Like a dragon he had decided to name, he had already become too attached. It was already hard, waiting would only make it worse.

The morning came terrors chirping in his ears, Hiccup stretched and groaned on the hard bed. He was not looking forward to this day. He blinked against the bright sun shining through the hole at the top of the cave, and for a second Hiccup wondered, giddily, if leaving today would be impossible. If they skies were clear as day, it would be hard to get to the island unnoticed.

However, it would seem the sun had fooled him. Though it shone from the east, a storm was clearly brewing in the west, and soon those same grey skies would cover the sun as well.

They had to get a move on.

The storm made for good cover, but it was difficult to keep Stormfly from leaving. She had always hated storms. The irony of her name wasn’t lost on him. While Hiccup enjoyed the way the lightning made the hairs on the back of his neck vibrate, she would do anything to stay at home. Clearly Toothless liked it too. He dipped and glided playfully, almost as if he knew where the lightning would strike. Perhaps he did, Hiccup wondered, the nightfury had always been more mysterious than other dragons.

Astrid kept close behind him and Toothless. It was easy to get lost in a dark storm such as this one, with no light keeping them from going astray. Hiccup didn’t know exactly when he had learned to keep control of the cardinal directions, it might have been genetic, but he always knew where he was. He could fly these skies blindfolded, which, in hindsight might have been exactly what he was doing.

After a few hours he dipped below the clouds, just barely to see where they were. The upside-down trick he used to scare (impress) Astrid certainly came in handy now.

Once he deemed it safe, they rounded the island, and Astrid slipped off Stormfly with the trees as cover. Something clogged his throat, but Hiccup couldn’t seem to swallow it down. The earth and wildflowers scented the air with something that felt entirely different from the smoke he was used to. It felt distinctly like Astrid.

"I'll attack from the north, to draw the attention." She nodded, not quite looking at him.

She shot him a quick smile, "I might come to their aid, to keep up appearance," For a second it looked like she was about to say something else, but then she shook her head quickly, "Just don't be surprised if we end up fighting again." Hiccup laughed, the knot in his stomach not yet gone.

"It would be my honor, mi lady." He did a small bow and grinned playfully. Astrid did not smile.

"See you in the battlefield, then, Haddock." and then she took off.

Hiccup swallowed again. That was it, he guessed. Simple as that. He felt his eyes burn, so he rubbed the back of his hand under his nose and sniffed loudly. Toothless didn’t comment when he turned around with wet eyes.

\---------------

The attack started before she reached the village. The familiar cent of burned wood tinted the air as Astrid tried her best to avoid the wet puddles in her way while sprinting. She arrived at the roads too late, her boots were already wet.

She saw him the second she stepped out of the ally she had snuck through. He was right in the middle, as usual. Trouble on all sides and locked in a scorching battle with Night. 

“Fucking dragon lover-” Night’s attacks had always been harsh, not necessarily fast, but ruthless like a hammer striking steel. “How dare you-” his words halted when he was pushed to the ground by Haddock but rolled around quickly enough to avoid the burning blade. “She is mine!” A few months ago, Astrid would have been flattered by the tall gentleman who considered her to be his, now she wanted to puke.

It looked like she was aiming for Haddock when she barreled into Night, sending him off with a yelp as he crashed into the crates on her right. Astrid was certain she did not imagine the Rider laughing. She could almost see his proud grin, but Astrid refrained from thinking of such things.

“Follow my lead,” she sneered, as she shoved her ax under his chin with a barely concealed grin. He nodded slightly, and she pushed him to the ground a little harder than necessary.

"You thought you could kidnap me-" her ax flew towards his head, it sent him scrambling away from the heavy blade- "and get away with it?" Her voice was just loud enough for most to hear.

Haddock buried a smile and didn't answer. He brought his sword down on her ax twice, then put forward a foot and tripped her. It didn't keep her down for long.

They fought until she had him in a headlock. 

"Push me back, behind those crates." She didn't see a sign of agreement, the rider just grabbed her arm, flipping her up and over his back. Somehow she managed to land on her feet.

She heard a few clicks, and when she turned around gas was spewing from his sword. Astrid ran for cover behind the crates when she saw a spark. The heat stung her skin uncomfortably even though she was out of harms way. 

Haddock arrived behind her, dark and scary as he once had been with his mask covering his face. Hidden behind the shadow of the crates, he flipped up his helmet and smirked.

“So,” she panted, “What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” he scoffed, though he seemed more confused than angry.

“Yes, how do you usually save the dragons?”

“Well, _usually_ it is carefully planned,” He looked up at her through his eyelashes, a small smirk playing at his lips, “-not some disguise to make sure the princess has a safe return.”

She punched his shoulder hard and he winced.

“Fine,” she mumbled, clearly a little pissed, “I’ll make the plan.” With a quick glance around to make sure no one saw them _not_ being enemies, she pointed further to their right, past the crates and to something that looked like a hill.

“Before you kidnapped me,” Haddock grumbled something about it not being his fault, but Astrid ignored it, “we were moving the dragons underground.” She winced a little at his horrified expression, swallowing down the lump of guilt at the back of her throat.

“It would be safer,” she explained, “harder for you to-”

He waved her off, explaining had never been necessary. _They were predictable_, she thought in a moment of panic, it seemed like he knew them better than they knew themselves. Then she remembered what side she really was on (even though she had yet to fully choose a side), and ignored the thought.

“Can we free them?” He gifted her with a wry grin then, placing a kiss on her hand before he pulled his mask back down.

“I never thought you would ask.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 603
> 
> Warnings: none
> 
> A/N: New (very small) chapter! And I'm almost done with the next one, I'm on a roll :)

“So, I have someone on the inside now?” Haddock whispered as they made their way to the back of the battlefield. “Maybe I should accidentally kidnap people more often.” He laughed when she punched his shoulder.

“Don’t push your luck, Rider.”

The new storage was smaller than the last, but tucked safely in a hole, covered by a layer of earth and trees. It would be near impossible to see from the air.

“Smart.” Hiccup mused and followed as Astrid opened a hidden door.

The room was empty except for the jittery dragons. They stomped, huffed, and hissed inside their cages, clawing at the iron gates. Astrid almost closed her eyes in shame when she saw what condition they were in. Thankfully, the Rider did not say a word.

Astrid tried to stay a little to the side as Haddock walked to the middle of the round room, but he tugged her along. Quickly, almost effortlessly, he lit up a ring of zippleback-gass around them.

The dragons turned from angry to curious in a matter of seconds. Astrid let out a surprised breath.

Slowly, Haddock neared the first cage, moving his fingers in a hypnotizing manner. The zippleback inside followed his hand closely with its eyes. Before the dragon could blink, Haddock was so close he could touch it. He patted their heads slowly, then opened the cage.

“Stay”, he muttered, his fingertips leaving the zippleback.

And even though they saw their escape, they waited, eyes following Haddock, filled with as much admiration as Astrid’s.

Astrid didn’t take long to pick up on what he was doing. She shook with nerves, but had never been more interested in helping out, so Haddock pointed her to the dragons that were easier to manage.

The smoking nostrils and eyes filled with rage seemed more dangerous now that she carried no weapon. She had left her axe by the entrance. Astrid mimicked his moves, keeping a close eye on the weary creatures, and she made sure to stay to the side in case one of them wanted revenge.

When they had opened all the cages, Hiccup motioned for the entrance, and with the zippleback leading, the whole pack flew to freedom.

“That was amazing.” Astrid said, a hand placed almost gently on Haddock’s shoulder. He flicked his mask up, and Astrid saw that he was smiling.

“No better feeling in the world,” he stated, looking at the retreating group of creatures.

Without really thinking, they had reached the crates. Haddock drew his sword with a growl when he saw Toothless almost being overrun by Vikings.

“Hey,” Astrid grabbed his wrist, forcing him to wait, “I’m going to keep helping, you know that, right?” The leather covering his wrist was cold against her hand while she blinked up at him. He looked deadly where he stood, eyes burning, a scorching sword in his hand. But his voice was soft.

“It’s Hiccup,” he said, swallowing almost soundly, nervously. His eyes flicked to his dragon then back to her. Astrid’s grip faltered.

“What?” Her voice broke, she searched his face for answers.

“My name. My real name.”

Astrid stared at him. The Rider had just made himself a vulnerable target. She could easily find out about his past, for every Viking name was almost unique.

Not knowing if she should thank him or tell him how stupid he was, Astrid decided on unevenly smiling instead.

“Oh, right,” he muttered, turning fully around to look at her, “You’ll thank me for this later,” He smiled apologetically and smashed his elbow to the side of her head.

The world went dark.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We found you a few hours ago.” She caught Astrid straining to look out the window and added, “He is gone.”
> 
> She plopped down on Astrid’s legs, moving a little when Astrid wiggled her toes in protest.
> 
> “He just left you there,” -she pointed at her friend with the cheese- “I guess he thought you were dead.”
> 
> “Yeah,” Astrid grumbled, “I guess he did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 1,2 K
> 
> A/N: I kinda like this chapter...

Astrid woke furious.

She could not for the life of her remember why or whom she was furious at, but the anger inside her bubbled and brewed.

That was the reason a scream came out of her mouth when she was trying to greet Ruffnut. Ruff fell to the floor in surprise, a hand grasping at the cloth over her heart.

“What the hell Astrid?” she slowly got back up, picking up the tray of food she had brought with her. The milk was spilled over the floor and the cheese had fallen over, but she managed to save most of the food.

“Sorry,” Astrid croaked, groaning as she moved her stiff muscles. “I just woke up so angry.” She stretched her arms over her head, not stopping until she felt the strain. Her eyes trailed over the familiar auburn walls of her bedroom.

Ruff raised an eyebrow as she put the tray in Astrid’s lap.

“That’s not surprising. You lost to the Rider, after all.”

“I did?” Astrid asked, forgetting that she was angry while she focused on sounding surprised. “Too bad,” she knocked down the light tone a few notches, and grumbled; “Did I get knocked out?” as she rubbed her forehead.

Ruff nodded, pointing to the axe by her bedside. “We found you a few hours ago.” She caught Astrid straining to look out the window and added, “He is gone.”

She plopped down on Astrid’s legs, moving a little when Astrid wiggled her toes in protest.

“He just left you there,” -she pointed at her friend with the cheese- “I guess he thought you were dead.”

“Yeah,” Astrid grumbled, “I guess he did.”

Ruffnut handed her a piece of bread which she waved off. Ruff stuffed it into her mouth either way.

“Fwuck ovv,” Astrid groaned while chewing her bread. She poked Ruffnut’s side a few times, until she relented, and let Astrid stand up.

“Hey,” Ruff swallowed the cheese she had stolen, “Should you not be more careful, considering the-“ she gestured to Astrid’s head. Astrid shrugged in response, tugging her bindings a bit snugger. Ruff threw her the leggings while she put up the last of her hair. Her friend didn’t comment, even though she knew that particular hairstyle was reserved for war.

“I can’t stay still now,” Astrid put a hand on Ruff’s shoulder and grinned despite herself, “There’s a battle to be fought.”

Ruff answered with a toothy grin. Astrid let go of her to fasten her buckle.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” Astrid rolled her eyes and bumped Ruff’s shoulder with hers on the way out.

Biting her cheek, Astrid reminded herself why she couldn’t tell the truth to her best friend. The battle Astrid spoke of was not the same as the one in Ruff’s mind.

Astrid had denied it when she first landed on Berk. She would stay true to her people. Then Astrid had looked into Stormflys eyes and abandoned the idea completely. These were innocent creatures. They deserved safety, not to be hunted down. Haddock -_Hiccup_, she reminded herself- had shown her that.

Berk had once been her home, but as Astrid watched her people, wandering through the village, she had never felt more lost. She had to look away as her uncle and cousins forced a bright red baby nadder into a cage.

“Think they’ll fetch a pretty price for him?”

Astrid almost missed the comment within the trap of her own head. She turned around when she realized Ruff had spoken.

“Who?” she asked, shaking off her previous thoughts. Ruff rolled her eyes and pointed at the nadder.

“Unusual colour, don’t you think?”

Astrid almost flinched when one of the men stomped on its tail to get it moving. Weird how she wouldn’t have batted an eye at the violence a week ago.

“I-uh- yes, yeah, I suppose so.” Ruff raised her eyebrows at the answer, and Astrid cringed. She had to get better at this acting thing. “Sorry,” she said, “I guess he hit me a little too hard.”

Ruff laughed and pushed her further down the cobblestone path. “Yeah I’ll say!” she exclaimed heartily. “Where did the master of guessing prices go?” Astrid chuckled. It sounded forced, but Ruff simply elbowed her side in a friendly manner. Astrid knew it was her way of showing she was concerned, since the elbow didn’t hurt the slightest like it usually did.

“Don’t worry,” -Ruff smiled- “you’ll get back into it quick enough.”

Astrid buried the desperate cry that rose from within her. _She didn’t want to_.

The great hall was packed when they arrived. Everyone who wasn’t on duty had gathered. Ruff whispered something about wanting to see her, but the discussions had started long before Astrid stepped into the hall.

“All our game, gone! And it’s his fault!” a man shouted from the crowd, and a few voices murmured in agreement.

“How are we supposed to live like this?” asked another.

“Odin’s wrath is upon us!” Astrid sighed at that one, blending in religion would make things worse.

“No this is obviously incompetent leadership.”

“He’s right! Nothing like this ever happened when Stoic was chief!”

Well, that was an interesting take. Stoic had been chief a few restless years, but then again-

“Stoic didn’t have to deal with devil riders!” Astrid nodded along with the crowd.

“That itself is a sign,” a woman grumbled, and Astrid almost agreed. They always chose to deal with things the violent way, perhaps with another leadership, things would have turned out different.

“I agree, the Rider is bad omen!”

Spitlout, who was seated in the middle of the grand table, rubbed the bridge of his nose. His grey beard betrayed the fact that he was, despite of his usually young appearance, becoming an old man. Though, today he looked wearier than Astrid had seen him in a long time.

Spitlout had in recent years given almost all his Chieftain powers to his two possible successors: his son, Snotlout and his apprentice, Night. But, as chief, he still got most of the backlash when the people were unhappy.

Astrid almost retched at the sight of her ex, but decided it was best not to make a scene. She assumed she would get most of the attention sooner or later anyways.

As she tried to shrink back so she could witness the mayhem from a safe distance, Night spotted her.

“Astrid!” he said, surprise clear in his voice, and the people of Berk turned around to look at her. “You’re awake.”

Sooner it was.

Astrid rolled her eyes, but made her way through the now silent hall, to the main table. “Obviously.” She muttered, but not loud enough for him to hear.

The table in front of the great hall was one of power. Its chairs were filled with the most respected citizens and warriors. Which was the reason why Astrid, as leader of the maidens, had her place two seats down from the chief, on Night’s left side. However, tonight, it was not empty.

Sitting in the place of a respected warrior, brought dishonour to not only the occupant, but it was much like spitting in the warrior’s face.

When Astrid reached the table, she could hear every breath in the great hall. She rounded the edge, grabbed her chair, and forcefully dragged it back. Her aunt gave a surprised shriek, as she scrambled to stay seated.

“Get up, Agatha.” Astrid growled, giving her aunt a sharp look. A second rolled by before Agatha stood silently and without protest, probably deciding on keeping her honour for another day.

Astrid sat down, her axe hitting the floor with a loud boom.

The hall was silent.

**Author's Note:**

> All feedback is appreciated, positive or otherwise! You guys honestly don't know how much a comment is worth to us writers. I will scream. Of happiness. That's a warning.


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